This invention relates to a photographic film splicer which splices photographic films withdrawn from cartridges to form an elongated web of photographic film.
In order to obtain an elongated web of exposed photographic film for developing it, it is known to cut the front and rear edges of films withdrawn from cartridges, and splice the rear edge of a preceding film to the front edge of a succeeding film with a splicing tape. This method involves two steps of cutting and a single step of splicing for each film. The elongated web thus obtained is transported progressively, or wound on a reel or the like.
According to the apparatus known in the art, the front edge of a film is cut and spliced to the rear edge of a preceding film, and after a spliced web has been moved aside, its rear edge is cut. Likewise, a second set of films are cut, and spliced together to form a second web. Therefore, there is a time lag between the cutting of the rear edge of a first web and the cutting of the front edge of a second web. This time lag depends on the skill of the operator, and brings about a reduction in the stability and efficiency of the splicing operation.